Letters to the Editor

I just read James A. Smith Sr.'s editorial, titled, "A Great Commission Resurgence" (Dec. 13). I was moved to just say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

I am in agreement with your doctrinal position on Calvinism, but more important, I was moved by your disposition. If a person affirms the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message and loves our Lord and lost souls, I do not have to agree with them on their view of the "the doctrines of graces" to join together to fulfill the Great Commission.

I long for both sides who love God and His Word to drop the rhetoric and let's reach our world for Christ. God helps us, Calvinist or not, to have a burning passion for God, for His Word, and for those who do not know Christ.

Though Calvinistic in my doctrinal position, the people who attend three Sunday morning services I pastor at First Baptist Church could care less. They just want to hear God's Word, the hope we have in Christ and know that God can see them through life's daily struggles. Battling over this issue is useless to the Kingdom of God. Honest discussion has its place, but drawing battle lines is useless.

Again, I say thank you, thank you, thank you, and may many hear the heart of what you have shared.

As a Christian, I'm deeply grieved that so many of my well-meaning brothers and sisters are so misinformed on the topic of evolution and the so-called "controversy." In truth, we have not a controversy at all, but a misunderstanding.

In the scientific world, well over 99 percent of all working scientists accept evolution by means of natural selection as the operative principle by which living beings change. Some have charged that this is a cabal of humanists who wish to drive God into obscurity.

If we fall for this conspiracy theory, we look just as foolish as those who assert the moon landings never occurred, but were staged in Hollywood. If we know so little about such basics as evolution, why would non-believers listen to us when we tell them the Good News of Jesus?

The problem with the "teach the controversy" crowd is that their argument proves too much. If their argument succeeds, why should we not then teach creation stories from Hindu, Aztec, and other traditions?

If Intelligent Design proponents wish to be taken seriously, they need to do science, and that means having their work peer-reviewed. Unlike what many Christians hear, any scientist who could show that modern evolutionary theory is flawed would likely win a Nobel Prize - so there is a great incentive in disproving evolution. But ID proponents have failed to do basic science. Lacking this necessity, they have chosen to appeal to the public, circumventing the scientific process.

However well-meaning ID proponents are, we Christians need to be wise as serpents, and wedding the truth of the Gospel with the unfounded speculations of ID can only make it harder for the salvation message to be heard by non-believers.

In his Nov. 15 letter, Dave Renfroe wrote: "I believe our convention should continue to focus on numbers." I know that Mr. Renfroe had good intentions, and he was right in saying that "behind every number there is a story." But I would like to caution Southern Baptists from falling into the temptation of focusing on numbers. The numbers will come when our focus is on Jesus Christ and when we allow Him to use us to mold others into deep and committed disciples.

1 Chron. 21:1-4 records how David, looking to the strength of his men rather than to the deliverance of God, commanded Joab to number the troops of Israel. Joab responded by noting God's ability to multiply his troops a hundred times over, questioning why David wanted to do such a thing. Nevertheless, David had Joab number the troops of Israel, in disobedience - and there were great consequences.

I am not saying Southern Baptists are being disobedient by numbering our members/baptisms, but it does seem that we can easily get our priorities backwards if we allow this to become our focus. This response is not meant as a rebuke toward Mr. Renfroe. But I do want to caution pastors not to fall into the trap of being obsessed with numbers, which sometimes can be disheartening. Just focus on Christ first and foremost.

Regarding the Dec. 20 story, "Flap over Homosexuals in church directory," the problem I see here is the simple quote of Pastor Younger, "How can anyone who knows Jesus believe God condemns people for the way they were born?" Pastor Younger does not realize that homosexuality is not a trait that is "inborn." There is no scientific evidence to support that notion. There are thousands of former homosexuals, and a scientific paper by Dr. Robert Spitzer confirms that people do change their sexual orientation. There are two scientific papers dealing with identical twins (same genetic makeup and raised together) showing that not all the identical twins were homosexual.

Non-heterosexual feelings develop, however the scientific community is not really sure exactly how they develop, but these non-heterosexual feelings can and do change. The message from the Christian community should indeed be compassionate, but also extend the message of hope and help. Hope and help is the message for all our sins, so why would it be different in this case?

For more information, contact Parents and Friends of ex-gays and Gays (www.pfox.org), or National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (www.narth.com).

No one should ever accept homosexuality as normal. Mark 10:6-9, spoken by Jesus, states that marriage is between a man and a woman as God ordained it from the beginning. There is no gray area.

By the church's failure to correct the homosexuals, it is not showing the love of Christ, but the love of the world. Christ told the woman caught in adultery to "go, and sin no more." The Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 5 commanded to put those outside the church for destruction of the flesh for committing sin and reveling in it or calling it normal and acceptable.

Homosexuality is a sin. There is no gray area and it is not to be tolerated in the church. Anyone who accepts it as normal is telling God that He is wrong and that His Holy Word is only to be thought of as suggestions.

If this church wants God's blessings, it must abide by what God states and there is no mistranslating this or misinterpreting it.

Reject God's Holy Word at your peril and harm.

Marriage between a man and woman originated with the Creator. This should be held up as the ideal in any church. Yes, people do get divorced and should be ministered to without being made to feel like second class citizens. Singles, seniors, young people, young marrieds, and children all need ministry. Homosexuals should be extended an open hand of help to deliver them from their affliction, but should also look at the other hand raised with the palm up that says they must stop this ungodly practice.

In no way should any same sex couple be listed in a church directory. Condone deliverance, not sin.

Once again I note with serious concern a previous letter to the editor (Dec. 20) demanding that Christians stay out of politics. I simply fail to understand how any well-informed, mature Christian can take such a stand unless it is for purely fleshly reasons.

I understand Robert Greer's statement that "More than one religious leader has lived to regret supporting a politician," but for Christians to simply stay out of politics is both theologically unsupportable and spiritually dangerous.

There are multiple passages of scripture that call Christians to be very much involved in politics. It was God, not humanity, who established human government in Genesis 9. Paul says very clearly in Rom. 13:1 that it is God who is in charge of worldly governments. Therefore, if we are Christ's ambassadors in this world (2 Cor. 5:20), is it not our responsibility to insist that our voices be heard in government? I can only assume that those who insist that Christians stay out of politics are either ignorant of what the Bible says or else support ungodly political positions (e.g. pro abortion, the teaching of evolution in schools instead of creation, or the acceptance of homosexuality in society) and are trying to soothe their consciences by taking the moral position that Christ has no voice in the political realm anyway.

As a musician, please consider my musings on the subject of church music. I miss the sound of "heavenly" music in my church - the great organ roaring praise from its deep bass pipes, the blare of its trumpets, the sweetness of vox humana. Let me hear again those great hymns which have stood the test of time for the simple reason they are the genuine testimony of redeemed hearts and souls; the words and music of divinely-illuminated praise. As such, their words and music are and will always be timeless.

I make haste to say I do not impugn the testimony of any songwriter, only the small talent it takes to write a monotonous four-note melody and a seven-word libretto repeated ad infinitum. If that be a common complaint repeated ad infinitum, so be it. It happens to be true.

We must never become guilty of a failure to teach all the great truths of God in our music just as we must teach them in Bible study and preach them from the pulpit. In language both simple and lofty our great hymns reinforce in unique ways that God is: Creator, great and powerful, pure, merciful and triune. He is gracious, saving, loving, forgiving, redeeming, providential, and the Source of all goodness. These and hundreds of other themes in music are unforgettable. We remember them. We hum, sing and even recite them in our prayers, sermons and devotions. They are treasured, a part of our daily life. They teach, explain and inspire. They bring us "closer to His bleeding side."

Apart from Scripture itself, no other body of literature speaks to the heart like our hymns, provides such an incomparable musical heritage, or so ably embodies the tenets of our faith. Let "every voice and kind" be raised in heavenly praise!